What Are The Most Common Mistakes People Make With Their AC’s?

 

If you live somewhere that gets extremely high temperatures in the summer you know the value of an air conditioner. They can be the difference between a fun, relaxing summer and sweltering, miserable couple of months. If you live somewhere hot, you have probably noticed that almost every household has an air conditioner but what you don’t know is that most of those people are making huge mistakes with their air conditioning units. We have compiled a list of the most common mistakes that people make with their air conditioners so that you can avoid them!

1. You’re not cleaning or changing the AC filters

Filters in your AC unit should be changed every three months minimum but if your system is running continuously you may need to change them every month. If you don’t replace the filters regularly you will actually be paying more for air conditioning each month and it will be working hard which will wear out the machine and freeze up the coil. Luckily, filters are inexpensive and you can usually buy them for under ten dollars.

2. You’re not getting your system serviced yearly

You should have a professional come in annually and check on all of your AC unit’s components to make sure that everything is working properly. If you don’t want to do this you can look online how to do it yourself. Having a professional look into your unit every year can save time and money by catching issues before they end up costing even more or, worse, damaging your AC unit to where you would need to replace it.

 3. You always have your shades or curtains open

This is something that you might not know is hurting your air conditioning efforts is having bright light filling the room that you are trying to cool. This makes your AC unit work twice as hard as it would if you shaded the area.

4. You’re cooling empty rooms

If you leave all of the vents open throughout the day you will be wasting cold air and raising your electricity bill. The best thing you can do is close the vents in the rooms that you aren’t in. If you want a room to be cool when you go in, you can open the vents to rooms you use frequently and leave the others closed. Closets should be kept closed because they have a tendency to swallow cold air.

5. You aren’t taking advantage of fans

By turning your ceiling fans, or any fans you have in the house, on you will be taking a lot of the stress off of your AC unit. Make sure to turn your ceiling fan on counter-clockwise because that promotes better air flow. This will carry the cool air further which means that the AC unit won’t have to work quite so hard to cool your home.

6. Your vents and thermostats are positioned poorly

If your vents are obstructed by furniture your AC unit will be working harder to cool down the house. A poorly positioned thermostat can cause real problems for you because if the sun or a lamp is heating it up the readings will be messed up and the AC unit will work overtime and may over-cool your house.